Adding two more.

Black Cat: Gone with the Witch / Annette Blair

If you want a completely inconsequential and predictable read, here you go.  I'll give the author props for the sheer volume of sexual metaphors and innuendo, but dear lord were they cheesy as hell.  However, there WAS a black cat, both in the story and on the cover.  In the book's favor, it is better written than 50 Shades of Grey.  This could be a read for other squares, but I honestly don't recommend this one.  As a train wreck it wasn't enough to make me want to read the others in the series, so this one and it's sisters are going back on the sale shelf at the library.

Supernatural: A Witch's Handbook of Kisses and Curses/ Molly Harper

Not my favorite read by her, but I've yet to read a book by her I disliked.  This book gets comedically meta when the character buys a romance novel about werewolves in Alaska, which I assume is a playful reference at Harper's Naked Werewolf series that is in the same universe as this series.  Overall, cute and playful, could have been a read for Witches or Scary Women (there are monsters and threats to lives even if it's not horror).  But I think I have at least another Molly Harper coming to me through ILL if I need one for Scary Women (Authors), it gave me a third square in a row, and I've been inspired to re-read Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett.

Read by Candlelight or flashlight:

Magical Realism:

Witches:

Genre: Horror:

Black Cat: Gone with the Witch / Annette Blair

Diverse Authors Can Be Spooky Fun!:

Ghost Stories and Haunted Houses:

Young Adult Horror:

Scary Women (Authors):

Read with (BookLikes) Friends: The Yellow Wallpaper / Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Grave or Graveyard:

Genre: Mystery:

Free Space:

Gothic:

Creepy Crawlies:

"Fall" into a good book:

Locked Room Mystery:

It was a dark and stormy night:

Set in New England:

Full Moon:

Vampires vs. Werewolves: Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires / Molly Harper

Supernatural: A Witch's Handbook of Kisses and Curses / Molly Harper

Classic horror:

Pumpkin: The Cottage on Pumpkin and Vine / Kate Angell, Jennifer Dawson, Sharla Lovelace

Set on Halloween:

Found this walking by our sale shelf at the library (which staff are allowed to select from gratis), my eye caught by the black cat on the spine art.

So trashy romance for Black Cat it is!

Posted above is the actual cover for the edition I read.

*Historical Romance*

Lady Patience books passage for herself and her four charges to England because she has been tasked with ensnaring titled husbands for them. Before boarding, she meets Captain Grant St. Benedict. Cue the romance.

This was my introduction to Annette Blair, and I wasn't disappointed. Charming story and characters and the further along I read, the more I enjoyed it. Even though I totally called the surprise concerning the Marquess way early in the book, that fact did not damper my satisfaction in reading it play out. I appreciated the side story plot of Patience's aunt and Rose's daughter, Amy. The sexual scenes were a little mild, but enjoyable. I wish there had been an additional scene of the couple's actual first time together after so many mini scenes leading up to it. But even without it, I was engrossed in the story. Four stars!

Wings are sexy. Pretty, soft, feathery wings are especially hot. And if the winged ones job is to protect? Super Awesome!

Enjoy these Romances with Guardian Angels in the hero or heroine spot. 

My lists are never in any particular order. Enjoy!

1.  Fallen by Erin McCarthy

New Orleans, 1840s. Sent to watch over the decadent city, the angel Gabriel loses himself in the liquid pleasure of absinthe. So when his mistress, Anne, is murdered—and all evidence points to him—a foggy Gabriel cannot be sure he didn’t do it. His penance: to be forever denied love. Then in modern-day New Orleans he meets forensic scientist Sara Michaels...

2. A Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day

Adrian Mitchell is a powerful angel leading an elite Special Ops unit of Seraphim. His task is to punish the Fallen--angels who have become vampires--and command a restless pack of indentured lycans. But Adrian has suffered his own punishment for becoming involved with mortals--losing the woman he loves again and again. Now, after nearly two hundred years, he has found her--Shadoe--her soul once moreinhabiting a new body, with no memory of him. And this time, he won't let her go...

3. Burning Skies by Caris Roane

A vampire warrior in exile, Marcus Amargi resists the call to return to the ranks of the Guardians who fight the death vamp armies. Here on Mortal Earth, Marcus has another battle on his hands—the seductive lure of Havily Morgan. The woman meant for him. Whose blood he craves. The one who comes to him in dreams—and demands his surrender…

A beautiful immortal with extraordinary powers, Havily lives in the realm of Second Earth but, in her fantasies, yearns for her winged lover Marcus. Soon, their bond will be put to the ultimate test. When their bloodthirsty enemies set the night on fire with sky-blazing weapons, Marcus and Havily must unite body and soul, to unleash the full power of their passion—and fight fire with fire…

4. Her Dark Angel by Felicity Heaton Free!

An angel trapped in Hell for centuries, Apollyon is tired of guarding the Devil. He longs to break free and feel the wind in his feathers, but he cannot leave the endless darkness without permission from above. When he senses someone calling him, he seizes his chance for freedom, but soon discovers the call came from a beautiful woman he has watched over from Hell, a woman who casts a spell on him and awakens the darkest desires of his heart. 

Serenity is shocked when a wickedly sensual black-winged angel shows up in her city of Paris claiming that she called him when she was only casting a simple vengeance spell. He’s no other than the angel of death! When the lethally handsome warrior offers to obey her and give her revenge, Serenity can’t resist the temptation, but can she resist the forbidden hungers the dark angel stirs in her? 

5. Her Accidental Angel by Melisse Aires

The spell was a trick! 

Kari thinks a weight loss spell is worth a try. Unfortunately, the spell is a trick that unleashes a centuries old famine demon. 

Fallen Guardian Angel Rahmiel once defeated the demon and was bound so he could fight it if it ever descended to the earth again. But there is the little problem of his imprisonment in an ice prison. What he needs is a bonding ceremony with a human woman--like Kari.

6. Daniel's Gift by Barbara Freethy

In her impetuous summer of love, Jenny St. Claire found Luke Sheridan -- her dashing knight in intern's scrubs. But a fast-track future and rigid, ambitious parents drove passion out of Luke's life. And the summer ended, leaving Jenny with a broken heart... and a beautiful son, Danny, to help mend it. 

Years later it is tragedy that reunites them -- the father whom a son longs to know, and the mother who has tried desperately to forget. And as Luke and Jenny struggle to ignore the pain and desire reborn in a look and a touch, only the remarkable courage of a young boy -- and the help of a rather unorthodox guardian angel -- can offer them the most precious gift of all: a second chance at the love of a lifetime.

7. Bedeviled Angel by Annette Blair

At the Works Like Magick employment Agency in Salem, Massachusetts, matching clients in need with magical temps is a piece of cake, especially since sexy Chance Gordricson also happens to be heaven-sent. He's Kenya Saint-Denis's guardian angel. And when he's hired to keep an eye on her and the two surrogate children she's become saddled with, he just might fall prey to temptation.

8. Under a Spell by Hannah Jayne

Sophie Lawson was seriously hoping life at the UDA would get back to relative normal now that her boss Pete Sampson has been reinstated. Unfortunately, her new assignment is sending her undercover into a realm where even the most powerful paranormals fear to tread. . .her old high school. Being a human immune to magic is no defense against soulless picture-perfect mean girls--or a secret witch coven about to sacrifice a missing female student. And Sophie's Guardian, uber-proper Englishman Will, is determined to convince Sophie he's the kind of temptation she should indulge in permanently. Now as the clock ticks down to apocalypse, he and Sophie will have to summon every trick in the book to battle devilish illusion, lethal sorcery--and betrayals they'll never see coming . . .

9. Dark Nights, Dark Dreams by Savannah Russe

Government agent Susan Chase always kept her psychic abilities a secret. Now her secret is out and the C.I.A. needs her help. A highly classified all- female team of paranormal agents, Susan and her squad are now entrusted with the government’s most unusual and dangerous assignments.

10. White Heart of Justice by Jill Archer

ince Lucifer claimed victory at Armageddon, demons, angels, and humans have coexisted in uneasy harmony. Those with waning magic are trained to maintain peace and order. But hostilities are never far from erupting…

After years of denying her abilities, Noon Onyx, the first woman in history to wield waning magic, has embraced her power. She’s won the right to compete in the prestigious Laurel Crown Race—an event that will not only earn her the respect of her peers but also, if she wins, the right to control her future.
                          
However, Noon’s task is nearly impossible: retrieve the White Heart of Justice, a mythical sword that disappeared hundreds of years ago. The sword is rumored to be hidden in a dangerous region of Halja that she is unlikely to return from. But Noon’s life isn’t the only thing hanging in the balance. The sword holds an awesome power that, in the wrong hands, could reboot the apocalypse—and Noon is the only one who can prevent Armageddon from starting again…

Did I miss your favorite? Let me know!

Vote on my Goodreads list: Guardian Angels in Romance Novels ‎

This goes out to Jenny who noticed there is a Lighthouse in Romance trend. 

Right you are! 

Here are some great Romacnes with Lighthouses leading the way! My lists are never in any particular order. 

1. The Lightkeeper by Susan Wiggs

Jesse Morgan is a man hiding from the pain of his past, a man who has vowed never to give his heart again. Keeper of a remote lighthouse along a rocky and dangerous coast, he has locked himself away from everything but his bitter memories. 

Now, the sea has given him a second chance. 

A beautiful stranger washes ashore, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Penniless and pregnant, Mary Dare is a woman who carries painful memories of her own. 

With laughter, hope and joy, Mary and her child bring light into the dark corners of Jesse's world. But when their friendship turns to passion and passion becomes love, secrets from the past threaten to take it all away.

2. Never Been Witched by Annette Blair

The Cartwright triplets—Harmony, Destiny, and Storm—are psychic sirens who use their magic for good and their good looks for seduction. But for Destiny, catching the attention of a paranormal debunker isn’t going to be easy.

3. The Exile of Sara Stevenson by Darci Hannah

In 1814, Sara Stevenson, the well-bred but high-spirited daughter of celebrated Scottish lighthouse designer Robert Stevenson, falls in love with a common sailor, Thomas Crichton. On the day of their clandestine elopement, Thomas mysteriously disappears, leaving Sara heartbroken, secretly pregnant, and at the mercy of her overbearing family. Refusing to relinquish her hopes that Thomas will someday return to her, Sara is banished to an eerie lighthouse on lonely and remote Cape Wrath. There she meets William Campbell, the reclusive yet dashing light-keeper who incites her ire—and interest. Soon Sara begins to accept her life on the cape and her growing attraction to William—until a mystifying package from an Oxford antiquarian arrives, giving intriguing clues to Thomas’s whereabouts. Through her correspondence with the antiquarian, Sara slowly uncovers the story of her beloved’s fate. But what she doesn’t immediately grasp is that these letters travel an even greater distance than she could have imagined—as the boundaries between time and space unravel to forge an incredible connection between a woman and a man many years apart.
 

4. Crystal Cove by Lisa Kleypas

ustine Hoffman has made a comfortable life for herself on the island of Friday Harbor. She is the proprietor of a successful boutique hotel, and she has the safe, predictable life she has always wanted. Growing up with her flighty, nomadic mother, Marigold, has instilled in her a deep longing for stability. But in spite of everything Justine has achieved, there is still something missing. Love. And after years of waiting and dreaming, she is willing to do whatever it takes to change her destiny.

What Justine soon discovers is that someone cast a spell on her when she was born, with the result that she will never find her soul mate. Determined to change her fate, Justine finds a way to break the enchantment, never dreaming of the dangerous complications that will follow.

And when Justine meets the mysterious Jason Black, she accidentally unleashes a storm of desire and danger that threaten everything she holds dear . . . because Jason has secrets of his own, and he wants more from her than fate will ever allow.

5. Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund

1859
Presque Isle, Michigan

What Is the Secret That Could Shipwreck Both of Their Lives?

All Emma Chambers ever wanted was a home, but when her steamboat sinks just outside Presque Isle, she's left destitute and with no place to stay.

An unlikely solution arises when the lighthouse keeper arrives in town. He's just lost his wife and is having a difficult time caring for his child. So a traveling preacher gets the idea that the keeper and Emma might be the answer to each other's dilemma. After a hasty marriage, she finds herself heading to the lighthouse with this handsome but quiet stranger. Nothing in her aimless life, though, has prepared her for parenting a rambunctious toddler, as well as managing a household.

Emma soon suspects Patrick may be hiding something from her, and then she hears a disturbing rumor about the circumstances surrounding his late wife's death. It seems as if her wish for a home and family of her own could end up leading her once more into turbulent waters.

6. Point Surrender by Anne Carter

Amy Winslow isn’t looking for a mystery; she doesn’t even like secrets. In fact, secrets have nearly destroyed her life. When a terrible accident forces her to take control of her brother’s mysterious California lighthouse, Amy finds herself immersed in its shocking past and uncertain future. Enchanted by the mystery, she refuses to rest until she finds out who died in the aging white beacon, and why. 

Case McKenna hasn’ t quite reconciled his own painful history when he sails his crippled boat into Newburg Harbor, intending to stay only long enough to make repairs. His plans change when he becomes entangled with a local couple intent on restoring a long-shuttered lighthouse. Despite an overwhelming urge to flee, Case follows intrigue and passion, as he, too, finds himself drawn in by Point Surrender…

7. You're So Fine by Kieran Kramer

Lacey Clark's dreams of Hollywood stardom didn't turn out quite the way she planned. Instead, her life is more of the daytime-drama variety: One of her actor ex-boyfriends fathered a child with another woman, and now, long story short, Lacey is the adopted single mother of his son. She takes little Henry with her to South Carolina to escape the film business but winds up working at a small movie studio, determined to do a good job both on set and at "home." Only problem is she ends up sharing a house with movie star Beau Wilder, who is no role model for Henry--and only spells trouble for Lacey…

LEAD TO A HAPPY ENDING?
Beau is arguably the most gorgeous man on the planet--and a known ladies' man. His wealthy Lowcountry pedigree is rivaled only by his bad-boy charm, a combination that proves irresistible for Lacey. And he adores Henry! If they weren't both on a movie set, their lives would seem too good to be true…unless the chemistry--not to mention the burning attraction--between them is real, and Hollywood's golden boy is actually falling for this sassy single mom? When it comes to love, sometimes you just have to throw out the script…

8. The Lighthouse Brides Collection by Andrea Boeshaar

Visit heroic beacons along the shores of Florida, Oregon, Massachusetts, Texas, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, where their light keepers work tirelessly and long for love. Immerse yourself in the beauty and danger of lighthouse history as six romances bring together adventurous—but lonely—souls. Penned by an exclusive selection of Christian fiction authors—including DiAnn Mills—this collection of stories will become a cherished favorite.

9. Spun By Sorcery  by Barbara Bretton

Chloe is always losing things-but an entire town? Just when she was about to settle down in Sugar Maple with her soul-mate Luke MacKenzie, her Fae enemy Isadora strikes, and her new hometown is gone. Even the Book of Spells, her lifeline to magick, can't help her now. Just in the nick of time, her friend Janice roars up in Chloe's ancient Buick with Penny the cat and her yarn stash in tow. If she is going to save her home she has to go back to Salem, where family secrets and centuries- old feuds pull her into the fight of her life.

10.  The Angel and the Outlaw by Kathryn Albright

He wants her as his bride, but the law wants him!

No one asks the dark, brooding stranger about his past. People gossip, but daren't question. He and his young daughter live alone—and that's the way Stuart Taylor wants…needs it to stay. 

When the spirited new schoolteacher, Rachel Houston, is touched by Stuart's shy little girl, who's never uttered a word, everything starts to change. Stuart's surly manner doesn't worry Rachel—she can see the vulnerability hidden in the depths of his blue eyes. She's convinced there's more to the rugged, handsome stranger's story. But when the truth comes out, has Rachel the courage to stand by her man?

Want more? Check out my Goodreads list: Guide: Lighthouses in Romance Novels